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Okay guys in this lesson we’re going to take a look at the different types of lab panels that you may run across when you’re taking care of your patients.

The beauty of these types of tests are that they can provide information quickly and they usually include more than one system. So you can take a look at your patient’s electrolytes and liver function at the same time without submitting two different types of tests. Another beautiful part of it is that they’re often performed on site, meaning that the hospital lab can perform these tests usually without a problem. That means that you get your information back quickly. It gives information about the different systems and all of the values can help point to what’s going on with your patient. These tests can be simple or they can be really complex. One thing that you want to keep in mind is if you have a patient that’s becoming sick pretty rapidly, you’re going to want to get labs that are going to give you the most information quickly.

Let’s start off by taking a look at the two most common types of metabolic panel. The first one is called the basic metabolic panel, or BMP. There are some similarities between the two panels that we’re looking at, but the thing that you want to look at when you’re looking at BMP is that it gives you a snapshot at kidney function, blood sugar, and electrolytes. The BUN and creatinine are going to give you an idea of what’s going on with the kidneys and how well they’re functioning. The glucose is going to give you an idea of sugar levels, and all of these electrolytes here give you an idea as to what your patients electrolyte status is. Again we go into all the little nuances of each lab value and other lessons so go check those out.